Automotive industry

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The automotive industry designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and sells motor vehicles, and is one of the world's most important economic sectors by revenue.

The term automotive industry usually does not include industries dedicated to automobiles after delivery to the customer, such as repair shops and motor fuel filling stations.

Contents  [hide] 1 History 2 Economy 3 World motor vehicle production 3.1 By year 3.2 By country 3.3 By manufacturer 4 Company relationships 5 Top vehicle manufacturing groups (by volume) 5.1 Notes 6 Minor automotive manufacturers 7 References 8 External links 9 See also

[edit]History

The first practical automobile with a petrol engine was built by Karl Benz in 1885 in Mannheim, Germany. Benz was granted a patent for his automobile on 29 January 1886, and began the first production of automobiles in 1888, after Bertha Benz, his wife, had proved with the first long-distance trip in August 1888 (from Mannheim to Pforzheim and back) that the horseless coach was absolutely suitable for daily use. Since 2008 a Bertha Benz Memorial Route commemorates this event.

Soon after, Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach in Stuttgart in 1889 designed a vehicle from scratch to be an automobile, rather than a horse-drawn carriage fitted with an engine. They also are usually credited as inventors of the first motorcycle, the Daimler Reitwagen, in 1885, but Italy's Enrico Bernardi, of the University of Padua, in 1882, patented a 0.024 horsepower (17.9 W) 122 cc(7.4 cu in) one-cylinder petrol motor, fitting it into his son's tricycle, making it at least a candidate for the first automobile, and first motorcycle;.^[1]:p.26 Bernardi enlarged the tricycle in 1892 to carry two adults.^[1]:p.26

Until 2005, the U.S.A. was leading the world in total automobile production. In 2006, Japan narrowly passed the U.S. in production and held this rank until 2008. In 2009, China took the top spot with 13.78 million units produced. With 18.3 million units produced 2010, China produced nearly twice the amount of second place Japan (9.6 million units), the U.S. trailed in place 3 with 7.8 million units.^[2]

Main article: Automotive industry by country

[edit]Economy

About 250 million vehicles are in use in the United States. Around the world, there were about 806 million cars and light trucks on the road in 2007, consuming over 260 billion US gallons (980,000,000 m³) of gasoline and diesel fuel yearly.^[3] The automobile is a primary mode of transportation for many developed economies. The Detroit branch of Boston Consulting Group predicts that, by 2014, one-third of world demand will be in the four BRIC markets (Brazil, Russia, India and China). Other potentially powerful automotive markets are Iran and Indonesia.^[4] Emerging auto markets already buy more cars than established markets. According to a J.D. Power study, emerging markets accounted for 51 percent of the global light-vehicle sales in 2010. The study expects this trend to accelerate.^[5][6]

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